Licorice and cancer

Licorice root is one of the oldest and most frequently employed botanicals in Chinese medicine. In the United States, licorice products are most often used as flavoring and sweetening agents in food products. Constituents of licorice include triterpenoids, such as glycyrrhizin and its aglycone glycy rrhizic acid, various polyphenols, and polysaccharides. A number of pharmac eutical effects of licorice are known or suspected (anti-inflammatory, anti virus, antiulcer, anticarcinogenesis, and others). Licorice and its derivat ives may protect against carcinogen-induced DNA damage and may be suppressi ve agents as well. Glycyrrhizic acid is an inhibitor of lipoxygenase and cy clooxygenase, inhibits protein kinase C, and downregulates the epidermal gr owth factor receptor. Licorice polyphenols induce apoptosis in cancer cells . These and other activities of licorice are reviewed, and a rationale is s uggested for combinations of agents in preventive clinical trials.